https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=173.245.55.83&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T23:35:35ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1386:_People_are_Stupid&diff=70375Talk:1386: People are Stupid2014-06-25T12:13:20Z<p>173.245.55.83: Another angle!</p>
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<div>Isn't that a reference to the Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.200.119|103.22.200.119]] 04:49, 25 June 2014 (UTC)krayZpaving<br />
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White Hat being burned? This certainly will not end here.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.102.208|141.101.102.208]] 04:52, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
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'''''Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.''''' This wiki is founded on the very principle that people are stupid. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.223.29|108.162.223.29]] 05:35, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
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This comment is one that makes me scratch my head and wonder... surely Randall is able to see that intelligence is not a relative but rather an absolute thing (if one were to kill the 10% most intelligent people the rest wouldn't get dumber, nor smarter). Surely intelligence is not to be measured in units of the common denominator. Surely it is obvious that 2nd panel is a pure strawman. Sigh...<br />
Oh and btw an IQ of 100 is the median, not the average. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.17|141.101.104.17]] 09:18, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
: I am wondering if the explanation should not include a mention of the Median/Mean problem because it is entirely possible for a majority of a population to be above or below some mean (average) statistic depending on the distribution. Also stupidity is a standard that is not dependent on either median or mean.[[User:Sturmovik|Sturmovik]] ([[User talk:Sturmovik|talk]]) 11:46, 25 June 2014 (UTC) <br />
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The mocking "award", which is an analogy of saying "intelligence isn't everything" (an EXTREMELY common cliche), reflects the fact that Randall, like just about anyone, is oblivious to the magnitude of the totality of positive correlates of intelligence, and even (TRIGGER WARNING, TABOO CONCEPT AHEAD) I.Q. Intelligence, I.Q., not only makes you happier, it also makes you more helpful to other people, more creative, more socially stable, better-to-do, less susceptible to mental illnesses, more likely to remember events in your life, etc. etc. etc... Basically, there isn't a positive trait or quality of life with which intelligence doesn't correlate. But people positively LOATHE awareness of how highly intelligence, in fact, matters. Hence the vehement denial whenever someone indicates its importance, all the "I know an intelligent person who is miserable/mean/...", all stressing of exceptions, all ridicule of the notion of intelligence in general, all the "don't think about it"-mentality, all writing off of I.Q. as "antiquated, grossly limited, racist, metric" rather than the extremely potent predictor that it is. tl;dr Randall at all, take time to actually STUDY intelligence or the g factor before you mock it like that. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:25, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
: In other words (and this is going to be my last addendum to this note, because it is a vast subject), whenever people say (or imply, as in the comic's case) that "intelligence isn't everything", the question to ask in return is, "okay, now what is the degree to which intelligence enables, facilitates, contributes to, 'the rest' to which you're opposing intelligence here?". People minimise the depth and breadth of the intellectual substrate of achievement. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:33, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Also, Randall (and everyone saying that) is being highly unjust in equating "people aren't smart" with "people aren't as smart as me". A perfectly valid alternative sense is, "people aren't as smart as to be rationally expected to contribute to rather than damage the discussion/situation/position at hand"--having the objective good, the objective recognition that certain situations (for instance, a certain online conversation which is expected to be competent) require certain minimal intellectual thresholds (for instance, an I.Q. of 120), in mind rather than egotic comparison. Lower intelligence, deny it all you please, comes with temperamental problems for instance. Selection for intelligence will largely filter them out. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 09:46, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
:: tl;dr of my entire production here: people must learn that BOTH situations of the Dunning-Kruger are equally harmful, the one that's less often considered perhaps actually even more so. Mistaken self-perception as intelligent is bad for the individual, but refusal to acknowledge the importance of one's own cognitive capacity (which is as good as universal in intelligent people--"I am not that smart" (who hasn't heard that one innumerable times?), "I just like doing thing x, my proficiency in it has nothing to do with my intelligence or I.Q.", "I have areas in which I'm 'stupid' too", "effort counts too") has societal consequences, of contributing to erroneous dismissal of the notions of intelligence & I.Q. & g etc. Shutting up for good now. Night. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:11, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
::: GAHHHHH just one more thing. Consider this: the fact that people dismiss I.Q. is the best indicator of how important a trait it really is. Thing is, people would not feel compelled by modesty to deny its importance had it not been vitally integral to many, many things. We deny what we value, so to give hope to those who lack that thing (to comfort those who lack intelligence). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:15, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
:::: Hey 141.101.89.211... I wonder if you have something to say, but despite my best efforts, I'm having trouble following everything you're saying - I have a feeling you were a bit emotional (perhaps tired?) when writing that, or you might have had fewer "more things" immediately following "I'm done" statements. If you're up for it, I'd appreciate you taking the time to make sure you're saying what you want to say, and ''then'' say it, because you seem to at least have good grammar (though there ''were'' a few British spellings... :-D), so I suspect you probably have a good point. It's also conceivable that I'm just not smart enough to get what you're saying (?) or perhaps it's just too ''early'' for me. BTW the best way of making sure I see what you're saying would probably be to let me know on my [[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk page]]... might even have the conversation there if you'd prefer. Thanks for your time. [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 11:25, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
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I would add one "people are stupid" angle not yet mentioned: judging by behavior, most groups of people are less intelligent that any member of that group individually. This is valid even for the "all people" group - just look at the planet. Surprisingly, judging by content of most wikis, the "editors of wiki" groups seems to immune. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 10:05, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Good point--conforming to pressures of one's group or one's position to the detriment of one's judgment is a separate personality trait. The phenomenon is remedied by intelligence, but independent from it. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.211|141.101.89.211]] 10:11, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
: Beat me to it. I'd like to add that even individual people have their occasional stupid and intelligent moments, with the stupid ones typically being of greater magnitude. Thus, it's not unreasonable to say that the average actions of people are at least slightly less intelligent than the average intelligence of most people on most days. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.83|173.245.55.83]] 12:13, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
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I can't believe people say things like that, man, people are stupid [[User:Halfhat|Halfhat]] ([[User talk:Halfhat|talk]]) 10:52, 25 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Thanks for the Lake Wobegon references. Not only is it on-target, but I take personal joy seeing mentions of uniquely Minnesotan culture anywhere I can find them. --BigMal27, Minnesota-born, Minnesotan-raised // [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.88|173.245.55.88]] 11:53, 25 June 2014 (UTC)</div>173.245.55.83https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1384:_Krypton&diff=70033Talk:1384: Krypton2014-06-20T13:58:26Z<p>173.245.55.83: Reply.</p>
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<div>Is the Earth baby the real reason Krypton was destroyed? [[Special:Contributions/103.22.201.239|103.22.201.239]] 08:58, 20 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Is now a good time to mark the shark jump? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.135|108.162.210.135]] 12:52, 20 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
-Only if this keeps up. Yeah, it's a crappy comic, but I don't think the quality overall has been dropping that much. Everyone has off days. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.83|173.245.55.83]] 13:58, 20 June 2014 (UTC)</div>173.245.55.83https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1382:_Rocket_Packs&diff=69648Talk:1382: Rocket Packs2014-06-16T12:53:00Z<p>173.245.55.83: Long-fall Boots?</p>
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<div>I think long fall boots (from Portal) would probably help with this.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.65|173.245.56.65]] 04:34, 16 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
-Not so much, they're designed for a completely different purpose. That's like expecting a kevlar vest to protect you against a sword. (They would, however, help if you ran out of fuel in midair.) [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.83|173.245.55.83]] 12:53, 16 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
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I was thinking a chair design with the legs pulled out in front might help out. {{unsigned ip|199.27.133.174}}<br />
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Wear the jet pack on your chest, avoid calf-burn. But don't mention the genitals. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.61|141.101.104.61]] 05:13, 16 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Is it really so hard to invent calf shields? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.30|108.162.221.30]] 07:53, 16 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Where is the problem? just reverse front and rear :=)<br />
http://www.thefind.com/apparel/info-batwing-chaps<br />
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.199|108.162.254.199]] 10:10, 16 June 2014 (UTC)</div>173.245.55.83https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1380:_Manual_for_Civilization&diff=69339Talk:1380: Manual for Civilization2014-06-11T12:40:41Z<p>173.245.55.83: Brought up a query.</p>
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<div>Brian Eno is associated with Long Now foundation as a board member: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Now_Foundation<br />
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[[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.45|108.162.222.45]] 08:50, 11 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
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The joke at the end of the comic about the list being 'all' animorph books is not that not all animorph books are included in the list but that the list contains the megamorph and the andalite books in addition to all the animorph books. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.92.231|141.101.92.231]] 09:03, 11 June 2014 (UTC)<br />
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I wonder why only Megamorphs and Andalite Chronicles were mentioned. Does Eno not like the others? 12:40, 11 June 2014 (UTC)</div>173.245.55.83https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1372:_Smartwatches&diff=679061372: Smartwatches2014-05-23T12:53:56Z<p>173.245.55.83: Initial description ahoy!</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1372<br />
| date = May 23, 2014<br />
| title = Smartwatches<br />
| image = smartwatches.png<br />
| titletext = This is even better than my previous smartphone casemod: an old Western Electric Model 2500 desk phone handset complete with a frayed, torn-off cord dangling from it.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This is supposed to say why the explanation is incomplete. As currently it only touches the title and not the image itself, it should be obvious.}}<br />
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Smartwatches are fairly recent innovations which function something like smartphones which are attached to one's wrist, although the screens are often shorter than those of typical smartphones. This comic shows someone taking the electronic innards of two smartwatches and putting them into the sawn-in-half case of a smartphone before attaching the two halves with a hinge, allowing it to open and close like flip phones, a type that was popular before the rise of smartphones.<br />
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{{w|Model_500_telephone#Model_2500|Western Electric Model 2500}} is last standard desk-style domestic telephone set issued by the Bell System in North America. It already contains the # key and the * key, so it can be said it has same features as first cellphones, but it's obviously much bigger, not speaking about not being wireless. Smartphones usually have much more functionality. {{w|Case modding}} is the art of building (usually computers) into nicely shaped non-standard cases. The opinion about "niceness" of the result vary, as usual in art. The point is that changing the case doesn't change the functionality, so the niceness (or, usually, "coolness") is only relevant feature (although, badly done modding can affect cooling).<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript}}<br />
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{{comic discussion}}</div>173.245.55.83https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=509:_Induced_Current&diff=67837509: Induced Current2014-05-22T15:07:12Z<p>173.245.55.83: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 509<br />
| date = November 26, 2008<br />
| title = Induced Current<br />
| image = induced current.png<br />
| titletext = The MythBusters need to tackle whether a black hole from the LHC could REALLY destroy the world.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
This comic is exaggerating the effects of the physics stated. Solar flares eject, among other things, ions, electrons and radiation. The solar flare does reach Earth after a day or two, and in history has knocked the power out in some areas during a large flare. The ions and electrons can marginally affect the magnetic field of Earth, or dent it as he said. A voltage occurs in a conductor (the wire) when subjected to a changing magnetic field. However this voltage would be very small from Earth's magnetic field change.<br />
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Mythbusters is a show which tests urban legends or myths that viewers submit. They have a classic style of scaling up myths to comical sizes. By starting the myth that a fire would be formed from the large voltage across the wire induced by the Earth's magnetic field, [[Cueball]] hopes to see it tested on Mythbusters, and perhaps then scaled up to astronomical proportions. This comic may also reference how Mythbusters is running out of urban legends to test, and has resorted to seeing if viral videos, movie scenes, and the like are plausible, plus occasionally making up urban legends.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Beret Guy, extension cord in hand, approaches Cueball as he works at his computer.]<br />
:Beret Guy: Can I plug my extension cord over here?<br />
:Cueball: No.<br />
:Beret Guy: Why?<br />
:Cueball: Solar Flares.<br />
:[A diagram is displayed, illustrating the Earth's magnetic field being permanently impacted by a large solar flare (represented by a large arrow).]<br />
:[A second diagram is presented, illustrating the Earth's rotation and the resulting impact that the solar flare would have on the earth's magnetic field.]<br />
:Cueball: A large solar flare could dent the Earth's magnetic field inwards. The Earth's spin could then induce a strong current in any long conductors, melting them and starting fires. By extending your cord, you could kill us all.<br />
:[Stunned, Beret Guy looks down at the cord he carries.]<br />
:Beret Guy: Really?<br />
:Cueball: Warn your friends.<br />
:[Dejected, the man walks away, cord in tow.]<br />
:[Cueball looks up from his computer as he is braced by Megan, a stern look in her face.]<br />
:Megan: That was mean.<br />
:Cueball: Listen, ''somebody'' has to keep Mythbusters in business. Next season should be fun.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br />
[[Category:Physics]]</div>173.245.55.83https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:521:_2008_Christmas_Special&diff=67834Talk:521: 2008 Christmas Special2014-05-22T14:50:18Z<p>173.245.55.83: Um, where's Black Hat?</p>
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<div>Santa actually really is Muslim. Saint Nicholas was from Turkey, although his remains have been somewhere in Italy for the past millennium.{{unsigned ip|121.222.232.156}}<br />
: Yeah, right. Living in what was later to be Turkey makes him a muslim. Islam was not even invented yet. [[User:Undee|Undee]] ([[User talk:Undee|talk]]) 11:44, 5 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
Of course you have to explain how St Nick who died in 343 CE could have been following a religion whose founder was born in 570 CE. But you knew that. I also think we can do somewhat better than "somewhere in Italy". His tomb is at Basilica di San Nicola in Bari, Italy. {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.11}}<br />
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I always thought Black Hat was talking to Danish. The hair's longer and it makes a modicum more sense that way (at least to me) Anonymous 03:34, 4 December 2013 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.91}}<br />
:I see what you are saying (although I couldn't comment on whether the hair is longer) but the question sounds like something Megan would ask. Danish would have built the laser chainsaw. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 19:20, 10 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
::True... Anonymous 20:14, 13 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
:I don't see Black Hat in any of the panels... [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.83|173.245.55.83]] 14:50, 22 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Just checked this image for any data in the black frames (like in [[SOPA]]). There is nothing; all pixels read #000000. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.53|108.162.216.53]] 20:52, 5 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
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I'm don't think "sublimate" means vaporize... And neither would vaporize fit with the rest the story... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.208|141.101.89.208]] 14:08, 14 May 2014 (UTC)</div>173.245.55.83https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1000:_1000_Comics&diff=67277Talk:1000: 1000 Comics2014-05-14T17:34:11Z<p>173.245.55.83: This is incomplete?</p>
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<div>Cueball does not think in multiples of 2, he thinks in base 2 (or powers of 2). I fixed it. [[Special:Contributions/134.102.123.217|134.102.123.217]] 10:35, 10 September 2012 (UTC)<br />
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In the original Blog format of this website, someone named Phillip had [http://www.explainxkcd.com/2012/01/06/1000-comics/#comment-19950 shared the following]: <br />
:"Spoiler ( http://rot13.com/index.php ): Pbaarpg gur ovanel ahzoref ba gur fznyy fvtaf va cnvag-ol-ahzoref znaare."<br />
Hint: copy/paste the weird looking text into the text field provided in the above mentioned website. Even after decryption, I couldn't follow what he meant, but I was hoping someone out there can do so and then explain it differently, thanks. It's a real mystery. [[User:DelendaEst|DelendaEst]] ([[User talk:DelendaEst|talk]]) 08:47, 22 September 2012 (UTC)<br />
: Added hidden image to Trivia section. --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 11:06, 22 September 2012 (UTC)<br />
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Just curious... The explanation says there are 1000 characters in the drawing. Are there 998 + Megan & Cueball? or do they make 1002? --[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 11:06, 22 September 2012 (UTC)<br />
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: The transcript says "1000 characters ... are arranged to create the number "1000". Two more people stand in the foreground" so I think Megan & Cueball make it 1002. [[User:Coombeseh|Coombeseh]] ([[User talk:Coombeseh|talk]]) 10:56, 12 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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There's a WOPR machine saying "would you like to play a game?" [[Special:Contributions/116.76.165.167|116.76.165.167]] 05:51, 28 September 2012 (UTC)<br />
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I noticed Barrel Boy isn't on here... [[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 19:10, 31 October 2012 (UTC)<br />
: Barrel Boy is bottom right on the second "O", just above "WOOOO!" [[User:Coombeseh|Coombeseh]] ([[User talk:Coombeseh|talk]]) 10:56, 12 November 2012 (UTC)<br />
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Well about what cueball says another interesting fact is that the number 1024 is used commonly in computer data, 1024 megabytes makes a gigabyte and so on...<br />
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:So, has anyone noticed that this wasn't actually Randall's thousandth comic, but rather his 999th? [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User talk:Schiffy|talk]]) 16:44, 12 March 2013 (UTC)<br />
::Is there a numbered comic that was omitted?[[Special:Contributions/74.213.186.41|74.213.186.41]] 13:10, 1 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::Yes, comic 404 never existed, remember? [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User talk:Schiffy|talk]]) 17:04, 9 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::Comic 404 was "Journal 3". [[Special:Contributions/121.54.48.38|121.54.48.38]] 04:24, 12 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::Or maybe Comic 404 DID exist, However was left behind within the bowels of abandoned comics... Never got into xkcd to fill the gap... Because it's place was replaced with the 404 page. [[Special:Contributions/121.54.48.38|121.54.48.38]] 04:25, 12 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::: Well, All hope is no use, I googled up "xkcd 404" and it gave no results about a 404th comic ever existed, Nor "xkcd no 404" or "xkcd's 404th comic", I guess we have to discuss about this in here: http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=80760 [[Special:Contributions/121.54.48.38|121.54.48.38]] 04:29, 12 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
:::::::Even this very site shows that Comic 404 never existed. Comic 403 was on a Monday, and 405 was the following Wednesday. The day in between those two (the Tuesday of that week) was April 1st. For further proof, see [http://xkcd.com/404 here]. [[User:Schiffy|<font color="000999">Schiffy</font>]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|<font color="FF6600">Speak to me</font>]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|<font color="FF0000">What I've done</font>]]) 17:39, 17 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
::::::::Hey, that's the April's fool from 2008. The 404 message is from Randall!!! Check the page source: [http://xkcd.com/404/ April, 1]--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:51, 17 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
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;The "1000 Characters" section<br />
I really don't see why it should be there. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.71|108.162.216.71]] 03:43, 8 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
:I did remove this. All the 1,000 comics are explained here very well. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:34, 8 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
Cipher text: CONNECT THE BINARY NUMBERS ON THE SMALL SIGNS IN PAINT-BY-NUMBERS MANNER [[User:Jwoodward48xkcd|Jwoodward48xkcd]] ([[User talk:Jwoodward48xkcd|talk]])<br />
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<br />
Following with this wiki's goal of explaining the nuances of the XKCD comics I moved the connect the dots puzzle out of trivia and placed it int the main article. It isn't a spoiler or just trivia, it fits well with the title text and is definitely not something a casual reader would find on the first pass through the comic. [[User:Chriswampler|Chriswampler]] ([[User talk:Chriswampler|talk]]) 13:13, 5 May 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Why is this still Incomplete? Unless someone wants to catalog all 1000 characters, there's not much left to do.<br />
[[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.83|173.245.55.83]] 17:34, 14 May 2014 (UTC)</div>173.245.55.83https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1140:_Calendar_of_Meaningful_Dates&diff=585021140: Calendar of Meaningful Dates2014-01-24T06:24:40Z<p>173.245.55.83: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1140<br />
| date = November 28, 2012<br />
| title = Calendar of Meaningful Dates<br />
| image = calendar of meaningful dates.png<br />
| titletext = In months other than September, the 11th is mentioned substantially less often than any other date. It's been that way since long before 9/11 and I have no idea why.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The calendar used in the comic is the standard {{w|Gregorian calendar}} used by most of western civilization. The comic looks at the frequencies of which dates appear in English writings indexed in the {{w|Google Books Library Project}}, by using the {{w|Google Ngram Viewer}} ([http://books.google.com/ngrams link]).<br />
<br />
Some dates are more (or less) frequently mentioned because they have a special significance. For example:<br />
* January 1 is {{w|New Year's Day|New Year's Day}}.<br />
* February 14 is {{w|Valentine's Day}}.<br />
* February 29 only exists during {{w|Leap year|leap years}}.<br />
* March 15 is the {{w|Ides of March}}.<br />
* March 21 is considered the first day of {{w|Spring (season)|spring}}, by a common convention in the northern hemisphere. <br />
* April 15 is {{w|Tax Day|US Individual Income Tax return filing day}}.<br />
* May 1 is {{w|International Workers' Day|International Workers' Day}}, or {{w|May Day|May Day}}.<br />
* June 4 is the {{w|June Fourth Incident}}, or the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.<br />
* June 30 is the end of the {{w|Fiscal Year| fiscal year}} for most American states and local governments. <br />
* July 4 is {{w|Independence Day (United States)|US Independence Day}}.<br />
* September 11 is the date of the {{w|September 11 attacks|2001 terrorist attacks}} in New York City and Washington DC. It's the largest number by a big margin, most likely because unlike the other dates it has no special name, it's reffered to as "September 11" almost exclusively. <br />
* December 7 is the date of the {{w|Attack on Pearl Harbor|1941 attack on Pearl Harbor}}.<br />
* December 25 is {{w|Christmas|Christmas}}.<br />
* December 31 is {{w|New Year's Eve|New Year's Eve}}.<br />
<br />
In addition, the first of each month is generally more mentioned than others, perhaps because such dates are markers of a new month and may be used as landmark dates or deadlines. Similarly, the final day of each month is commonly a deadline day. Other dates have correlations for which there doesn't appear to be any obvious reasons. (An example is noted in the title text.)<br />
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The date mentioned in the sub-heading (October 17th) is Randall's birthday.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:'''Calendar of Meaningful Dates'''<br />
:Each date's size represents how often it is referred to by name (e.g. "October 17th") in English-language books since 2000<br />
:(Source: Google ngrams corpus)<br />
:[A regular Gregorian calendar laid out in a grid, Sunday first, on a leap year, with some numbers larger than others.]<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Charts]]</div>173.245.55.83https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=856:_Trochee_Fixation&diff=57883856: Trochee Fixation2014-01-17T00:12:13Z<p>173.245.55.83: /* Transcript */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 856<br />
| date = February 4, 2011<br />
| title = Trochee Fixation<br />
| image = trochee fixation.png<br />
| titletext = If you Huffman-coded all the 'random' things everyone on the internet has said over the years, you'd wind up with, like, 30 or 40 bytes *tops*.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
A {{w|trochee}} is a type of {{w|metric foot}}. A foot is a measure in poetry, it consists of stressed beats and unstressed beats. A trochee is a foot which consists of one stressed beat followed by unstressed beat: "trochee" itself is an example of this as you stress the first syllable and don't stress the second syllable ("TROH-kee".) In the comic, a young girl develops a fixation with words that are trochees, such as robot ("ROH-bot",) raptor ("RAP-tor",) and Jesus ("JEE-zus".) [[Megan]] explains her behaviour. She proposes a "radical trocheeotomy." [[Cueball]] misinterprets Megan's intent as a "{{w|tracheotomy}}", but agreeing with the idea.<br />
<br />
There are references to {{w|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles}} and {{w|Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers}}, both of which are examples of actual, trochaic TV show titles. Additionally, there is a reference to sci/fi author {{w|Neal Stephenson}} who has written {{w|Snow Crash}}, {{w|Anathem}} and many other books.<br />
<br />
{{w|Huffman coding}} is a lossless data compression algorithm that works by recording a specific string and then only recording that the string is repeated a certain number of characters later on until eventually it only contains a "dictionary" of unique substrings and then mentions of where those substrings repeat. In highly repetitive data this can cut down the file size immensely, which is what Randall is implying by saying you would only end up with 30–40 bytes. Most of the "random" stuff said on the Internet has been said before.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:Girl: Robot ninja! Pirate doctor laser monkey! Narwhal zombie badger hobo bacon kitty captain penguin raptor Jesus!<br />
<br />
:Megan: We'd been seeing this brain damage for years, but only recently did our linguists identify the pattern behind it.<br />
<br />
:Megan: The patients fixate on animals and types of people whose names are trochees (two syllables, with the accent on the first).<br />
<br />
:The malfunction causes a rush of dopamine whenever these trochees are heard or spoken.<br />
:[Chart shows "internet" and "brain," with arrows marked "trochees" traveling both ways between them. An arrow marked "dopamine" loops from the brain back to the brain.]<br />
<br />
:The warning signs appear in childhood:<br />
:[Child sits in front of TV.]<br />
:Child: Yeah! Mighty teenage morphin' ninja power mutant turtle rangers!<br />
:Social reinforcement focuses the fixation on a few dozen words.<br />
:Cueball (off-panel): Is there a cure?<br />
<br />
:[Girl is reclining under a big machine pointed at her face.]<br />
:Megan: We're about to try a radical trocheeotomy.<br />
:Cueball: Rip out her vocal chords? I'm in favor.<br />
:Megan: No, we're modifying her vocabulary* to erase the words she's fixated on.<br />
:*Digitoneurolinguistic hacking! It's totally real! Ask Neal Stephenson.<br />
<br />
:Megan: Either the gap will be filled by normal words, or she'll just generate a new set of trochees.<br />
:Megan: Here goes.<br />
:[She pulls the lever on a large panel.]<br />
:''kachunk bzzzZZZZZZ''<br />
<br />
:[Girl is waking up.]<br />
:Girl: ...GzZhRmPh ...<br />
:Girl ...banjo turtle!<br />
:Girl: Jetpack ferret pizza lawyer! Dentist hamster wombat plumber turkey jester hindu cowboy hooker bobcat scrapple!<br />
:Megan (off-panel): Sigh.<br />
:Megan: Time for plan B.<br />
:Cueball: Someone get a brick.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]</div>173.245.55.83https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=161:_Accident&diff=57875161: Accident2014-01-16T22:37:29Z<p>173.245.55.83: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 161<br />
| date = September 22, 2006<br />
| title = Accident<br />
| image = Accident.png<br />
| titletext = As far as treachery-as-driving-music goes, Katamari music is matched only by Guitar Hero music.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
After someone plays a game enough, various instincts develop. One might be ready to push the right button when a right arrow comes up on screen. One might learn the tricky sequences of moves needed for a situation in the game, and find oneself doing them in another game in a similar situation. Or, as in this case, one might get used to pushing a giant ball around trying to collect smaller objects, and try doing so with your car when the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5QPSvOsS8o game's themesong] starts playing. <br />
<br />
In the game {{w|Katamari Damacy}}, the player has to grow an initial object by rolling over smaller objects in the playfield which become attached to it, growing the object and making it larger and larger. As the conglomeration of objects gets larger, bigger things in the environment will begin to attach to it, allowing it to grow further. How big the player can get this conglomeration of objects, or "katamari", determines how well the player does in the game.<br />
<br />
When Katamari Damacy's theme song comes on in the third panel, [[Cueball]] begins acting out the game's premise, and drives his car into a mailbox - which "looked smaller" than his car - trying to get it to attach. This doesn't work so well outside of the game. <br />
<br />
The title text implies that music used in the game {{w|Guitar Hero}} is equally hazardous when driving. Anyone who's become accustomed to rocking out on a fake guitar to a particular song could find themselves involuntarily playing the air guitar when said song comes on the radio unexpectedly. Randall is pointing out that Guitar Hero-induced spontaneous air guitar performances are not safe activities while driving.<br />
<br />
The theme song from Katamari Damacy is also mentioned in [[851: Na]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball driving car while singing.]<br />
:Cueball: NAAAA NA NA NANA NANA NA NA KATAMARI DAMACY<br />
:[Cueball and Megan talking.]<br />
:Megan: And that's when you veered into the mailbox?<br />
:Cueball: It looked smaller then me. It was just instinct.<br />
<br />
{{Comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Video games]]<br />
[[Category:Music]]<br />
[[Category:Guitar Hero]]</div>173.245.55.83https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=595:_Android_Girlfriend&diff=57838595: Android Girlfriend2014-01-16T08:48:32Z<p>173.245.55.83: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 595<br />
| date = June 10, 2009<br />
| title = Android Girlfriend<br />
| image = android_girlfriend.png<br />
| titletext = Programming the sexbots to enjoy sex seemed a sensible move at the time, but we didn't realize the consequences of their developing fetishes.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic parodies the party trick of tying a cherry stem in a knot with your tongue (thus indicating dexterity that could be put to good use in kissing and oral sex). The android uses a built-in arc welder unit (presumably the "fetish" referred to in the alt text), which for obvious reasons frightens potential sex partners away rather than attracting them. [[600: Android Boyfriend]] can be considered a "sequel".<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A couple and a friend face each other. The friend is holding something.]<br />
:Cueball: Check out my new android girlfriend.<br />
:Friend: Is she a sex bot?<br />
<br />
:[The android grabs the cherry out of the friend's hand.]<br />
:''Grab''<br />
<br />
:[The android pulls the stem off.]<br />
:''Plink''<br />
<br />
:[The android puts the stem in its mouth.]<br />
:''NOM''<br />
<br />
:[There is a bright flash around the android's mouth. The rest of the panel is dark.]<br />
:''KZZZZT''<br />
<br />
:[The android turns toward friend and reaches toward him.]<br />
:Friend: I don't think arc-welding a cherry stem counts as sexy.<br />
:Android: Remove your pants.<br />
:Friend: No.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>173.245.55.83https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=595:_Android_Girlfriend&diff=57837595: Android Girlfriend2014-01-16T08:47:31Z<p>173.245.55.83: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 595<br />
| date = June 10, 2009<br />
| title = Android Girlfriend<br />
| image = android_girlfriend.png<br />
| titletext = Programming the sexbots to enjoy sex seemed a sensible move at the time, but we didn't realize the consequences of their developing fetishes.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic parodies the party trick of tying a cherry stem in a knot with your tongue (thus indicating dexterity that could be put to good use in kissing and oral sex). The android uses a built-in arc welder unit (presumably the "fetish" referred to in the alt text), which for obvious reasons frightens potential sex partners away rather than attracting them. [[600: Andriod Boyfriend]] can be considered a "sequel".<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A couple and a friend face each other. The friend is holding something.]<br />
:Cueball: Check out my new android girlfriend.<br />
:Friend: Is she a sex bot?<br />
<br />
:[The android grabs the cherry out of the friend's hand.]<br />
:''Grab''<br />
<br />
:[The android pulls the stem off.]<br />
:''Plink''<br />
<br />
:[The android puts the stem in its mouth.]<br />
:''NOM''<br />
<br />
:[There is a bright flash around the android's mouth. The rest of the panel is dark.]<br />
:''KZZZZT''<br />
<br />
:[The android turns toward friend and reaches toward him.]<br />
:Friend: I don't think arc-welding a cherry stem counts as sexy.<br />
:Android: Remove your pants.<br />
:Friend: No.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>173.245.55.83https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=595:_Android_Girlfriend&diff=57836595: Android Girlfriend2014-01-16T08:46:51Z<p>173.245.55.83: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 595<br />
| date = June 10, 2009<br />
| title = Android Girlfriend<br />
| image = android_girlfriend.png<br />
| titletext = Programming the sexbots to enjoy sex seemed a sensible move at the time, but we didn't realize the consequences of their developing fetishes.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic parodies the party trick of tying a cherry stem in a knot with your tongue (thus indicating dexterity that could be put to good use in kissing and oral sex). The android uses a built-in arc welder unit (presumably the "fetish" referred to in the alt text), which for obvious reasons frightens potential sex partners away rather than attracting them. [[600: Andrion Boyfriend can be considered a "sequel".<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[A couple and a friend face each other. The friend is holding something.]<br />
:Cueball: Check out my new android girlfriend.<br />
:Friend: Is she a sex bot?<br />
<br />
:[The android grabs the cherry out of the friend's hand.]<br />
:''Grab''<br />
<br />
:[The android pulls the stem off.]<br />
:''Plink''<br />
<br />
:[The android puts the stem in its mouth.]<br />
:''NOM''<br />
<br />
:[There is a bright flash around the android's mouth. The rest of the panel is dark.]<br />
:''KZZZZT''<br />
<br />
:[The android turns toward friend and reaches toward him.]<br />
:Friend: I don't think arc-welding a cherry stem counts as sexy.<br />
:Android: Remove your pants.<br />
:Friend: No.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:Sex]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]</div>173.245.55.83